GuideStar International.

GSI interviewed Jalal Abdel Latif, Chief of Section, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UN-ECA)

Mr. Latif spoke to us about plans for GuideStar Africa and UN-ECA’s role in the initiative.

In the interview we talked about:

• Why UN-ECA decided to work towards building a GuideStar system
• How information could help achieve the goal of aid effectiveness of the Paris Declaration and Accra Agenda for Action
• The opportunities that exist and constraints that will be faced in developing a GuideStar for Africa
• The ways in which the challenge of limited internet access could possibly be overcome
• The primary source of the data
• The way in which African civil society as a whole can benefit from the system

Stuart Etherington (Chief Executive, NCVO and GSI Board Member)

Keisha Taylor (Communications Manager, GuideStar International) recently interviewed Stuart Etherington, Chief Executive at the NCVO who is also on the board of GuideStar International as well as a member of the Advisory Council for GuideStar UK. In the interview he spoke about:

• Why the Office for the Third Sector should be changed to Office for Civil Society
• The role GuideStar is playing in the development of the charitable sector in the UK and overseas
• The way in which UK civil society compares with the rest of the world
• How NCVO values the information available on GuideStar UK
• How he thinks GuideStar can help ease the burden of reporting on charities.
• Possible opportunities for the charitable sector with the 2012 Olympics
• The new opportunities and challenges which charities must confront in the future

Canada

GSI recently interviewed Michael Hall, Vice President (Imagine Canada) who has actively begun work on the development of a GuideStar system for Canadian non profit organisations. In the interview we discussed:

• The present and historical importance of the nonprofit sector in Canada with regard to delivering services to communities.
• The reason why a GuideStar system was identified as the most suitable for online reporting of Canadian nonprofits.
• The value a GuideStar system would bring to the country’s nonprofit sector, and
• The need to have a tangible system online to encourage stakeholder participation.

Germany

We spoke with Charlotte Buttkus (Research Analyst) & Martin Vogelsang (Project Manager)
from the GuideStar Deutschland Team. The main topics discussed were:

• The developing acceptance of the need for and the value of transparency in the German third
  sector, despite lack of a transparency culture.
• The benefits of being part of a European consortium, where each member is examining the
  possibilities of a GuideStar system for their country.
• The importance of partnerships and support from national civil society leaders in Germany while
  developing the GuideStar in Germany.
• What they aim to achieve in the future.

Hungary

We interviewed Zsófia Makadi the project manager for the GuideStar Hungary Feasibility Project. In the interview she shared her thoughts and experiences on developing a GuideStar system for Hungary. We spoke about:

• The recent development of the sector following the socialist era in Hungary
• The type of civil society organisations that exist in Hungary
• The type of data available in the country
• The planned legislation change in the country which will aid the development of civil society reporting in the future, and
• The opportunities & challenges that exist when trying to set up a GuideStar system in Hungary

South Africa

“The strength of Inkanyezi GuideStar will only be
as strong as the smallest organisation participating in it…”

Participation of all CSOs is only one of the issues Conrad Jardine the former Director of Inkanyezi GuideStar (iGuideStar) in South Africa discussed when GSI had a chat with him GuideStar developments there.

During the interview we spoke about;

• the opportunities and challenges of implementing a South African GuideStar
• the potential for convergence technology and mobile phones with iGuideStar
• the use of iGuideStar to bridge the digital divide in South Africa
• the potential for developing the system in other African countries and
• the importance of using of iGuideStar to promote the development and work of the smallest community groups in the country.